LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Beach Spikers
built 253 days ago
What makes Beach Spikers so playable is the over-simplified gameplay. The game could really be played by only using two buttons and your analog stick. Serving is simply a matter of timing the power-timing meter, and diving/bumping/spiking/setting is easily done with a combination of the three. Picking it up is Mickey Mouse simple, and the tutorial shows you the more "advanced" moves. With smooth control aspects, responsive controls and beautiful physics (wink-wink), the games playability is off the hook. The bottom line here is that the game is just plain fun.
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Visually, Beach Spikers is a treat. The arenas look great, as do the crowds. The frame rate manages to stay smooth, only skipping every once in a while. Of course, the girls are nicely rendered. However, they are not the focus of Beach Spikers. This isn’t Dead or Alive, folks.
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![Beach Spikers [GC]](http://retrieverimages.lycos.com/images/b/e/a/beach-spikers/i/001.jpg)
The first beach volleyball game for GameCube, Beach Spikers offers two-on-two competition with a choice of 16 men's and women's teams from eight countries: U.S., Brazil, Australia, Spain, Japan, Italy, France, and Cuba. The control scheme is designed to be accessible, requiring only two buttons. An icon appears along the sand to signal where the ball is heading, and players can align their athlete underneath the symbol to set the ball to their teammate, dig, or attack in multiple directions. A vertical power meter determines the strength of each shot, and close-up views of the net during spike attempts allow for a more dynamic presentation. Modes of play include Arcade, World Tour, VS Mode, and Tutorial. Arcade is structured like the 2001 coin-op game, where players take their chosen country through an eight-team tournament against men or women.
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Based off the wonderful world of beach volleyball, Beach Spikers emulates its sport in a similar way as Sega's Virtua Tennis series; brilliantly simple mechanics combined with incredibly deep and immensely playable gameplay. Even with just two buttons, AM2 have successfully designed a system where every passing shot, defensive move or devastating attacking spike is easily pulled off. Serving for example starts with the camera placed behind your selected female character and a power bar rises and descends awaiting a press of a button. Pressing A on the pad will perform a standard overhead serve but pressing B will pull off an underarm serve. Pressing both together will result in a jumping service, which will usually result in the recipient being knocked to the floor due to the sheer power.
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Despite the excellent gameplay, Beach Spikers begins to falter a bit in the single player mode. In what can be described as almost a volleyball RPG, the player creates a team and takes it to the top. The team creation is fairly limited; it only allows the player to customize the face, sunglasses, hats, hair, and uniform. Once the team is created, the player must assign ability points to the teammate. Points can be placed in several different stats, such as serving, blocking, power, hitting, etc. The first match or two will surely be lost, as the AI-controlled partner is dumb as a rock without a bit of experience.
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Beach Spikers delivers intense beach volleyball action for up to four players, and it showcases beautiful female athletes as they battle it out under the summer sun. You must cooperate and compete as you take control of bikini-clad athletes and go two-on-two at the net. Those craving a deeper experience can create their own athlete and teammate and enter the all-new World Tour mode.
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Beach Spikers